2018 Year in Review: Travel, Life, Business, and Everything in Between

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2018 – how you over already?! Let’s get to it and see exactttly what I got up to this past year.

One of my favorite posts each year is recapping my travels (and other life/business highlights). I also love hearing about other people’s year-in-reviews – so if you’ve got one or care to break down your year for me, add it in the comments!

Although they take me forevvverrrr and a day to write (I like to relive all the memories, ok?!), I can’t imagine not writing them. So enjoy, and let’s take a look back at exactly what I got up to in 2018.

And before we get started, can you believe yet another year has passed by? How in holy hell did that happen?! I swear – the years keep going faster and faster the more I age. And if you’re thinking I’m a crazy person – just wait, that means you just aren’t old enough yet. Your time will come, I promise you that.

2018 by the Numbers:

States Visited: 6 (with a whole lotta trips within California as well)

Countries Visited: 13

Flights: 24

Days Traveling (not at home): ~102*

Day and Weekend Trips: 10

Beds Slept In: 29

Solo Travel Days: 31 (wow, a full month!)

*And because I’m a HUGE nerd and have a slight obsession with numbers, that means I traveled for about 27% of the year! No wonder I’m ridiculously tired.

Just remember, I have a full time job and all, and with that being said, I’m impressed by how much travel I was able to squeeze in. Yes, I do work in a school and therefore am extremely lucky to have 10 weeks off in the summer (which I most definitely cram in with travel), but other parts of the year aren’t as easy to get away.

I’m limited to the school calendar, which yes, is generous with it’s time off, but that means I don’t have the luxury of traveling wherever whenever I want. Basically, I can’t decide to take off a week in October because I found cheap flights to Europe. So yes, while I may in fact have a larger number of days in which I can travel, those dates are usually the most expensive (school holidays, spring break, summer, etc).

→ If you’re wondering how I travel so much with a full time job, check out this post for some tricks I use.

JANUARY

After spending a few days in both Bangkok and Chiang Mai, we rang in the New Year on the beach in Thailand, watching a lantern festival and fireworks in Krabi (which we somehow randomly stumbled across #yasssss). It felt like pure magic, and I can’t think of a better way we could have welcomed 2018 than staring at the sky with thousands of glistening paper lanterns floating above the Andaman Sea.

The next few days were spent gorging on pineapple fried rice, mango sticky rice, and banana fritters with coconut jelly in tree houses, chasing the sun at Railay Beach, hiring private long tail boats to other nearby islands, beach hopping and finding sand dollars like no big deal, staring up at all the massive formations in Phang Nga Bay, some of the best snorkeling at our lives at Maya Bay, running away from monkeys, and seeing some of the best views of my life at Pileh Lagoon.

We also sailed on over to Koh Phi Phi for a few nights and LOVED our jungle-like resort complete with multiple infinity pools and a semi-private beach. And trust me – that dragon fruit mojito was something else.

Thailand was like one giant ball of pure bliss to me – shiny golden temples, $5 foot massages, endless mango smoothies, and stunning beaches amongst towering limestone cliffs. I die of happiness just thinking about going back. Unfortunately our 2 weeks in Thailand eventually had to come to an end. 😥 Probably one of our best trips yet.

Interested in doing the same trip? I wrote up our entire itinerary over here, which has already been followed by dozens of readers! Thanks for all your sweet notes! 🙂

FEBRUARY

After a busy few weeks in Thailand, we needed a refresh and some quality down time at home. We managed to sneak in a few day trips, to both Santa Cruz (where we pranced around on the beach in summer attire, drank tangy fruit smoothies, and indulged in avocado fries) and Half Moon Bay to stuff our faces with lobster rolls and do more frolicking on the soft sand. I love that we’ve got just soooo many day trip options from San Francisco, even when it’s the middle of the winter.

Our weekend trip to Point Reyes was a half-fail, half-success, as it was waaaaay windier than we had originally imagined it would be, so we weren’t quite prepared and basically froze the entire time. Thankfully the huge bowl of clam chowder on the coast helped warm us up a bit. Probablyyyy wasn’t the greatest idea to go hiking in those intense winds with the lightest of jackets, but oh well! We also headed to elephant seal overlook (and boy were those things noisy AF), Point Reyes Lighthouse, and the Cypress Tree Tunnel.

MARCH

By March, ohhhh we missed the snow (well, sorta, kinda – who am I?), so off to the mountains we went! And the fact that Yosemite got a fresh dusting of snow the night we arrived just made the whole park and surrounding areas that much more heavenly. Our resort, Rush Creek, was exactttly what winter wonderland dreams were made of – s’mores under the stars, brownie sundaes in the snow, hot stone massages, and stunning vistas all around.

We drove through the park, stopping at plenty of spectacular snowy-filled photo stops and testing our limits on short wintery waterfall hikes.

Yosemite in March was absolutely perfect – the holiday crowds had vanished, icicles dangled from tree branches, snowflakes coated the Valley, and the entire park was so calm and bright. I think know we’ll be back again (we’re only a four hour drive away!)

The end of March brought me to Hong Kong to start off my spring break in my second Asian country of the year. Hong Kong took me by surprise, and I fell for the conglomerate-sized buildings (they were massive!), curry fish balls, sweet egg tarts (oh how much I miss you Tai Cheong Bakery), epic photo spots, serene floating islands, and that impressive skyline. I didn’t realize just how lush and green this country was, as in my mind I had pictured tons of Chinese architecture, double decker buses, and a bustling and vibrant city center (true, but Hong Kong is SO much more than that I gladly found out).

I spent my time spotting flamingos in Kowloon Park, perusing alll the markets (Ladies, Goldfish, Flower, Bird, Night, you name it), photographing the rainbow colored Choi Hung Estate, admiring the views at Victoria Peak, retreating to the Man Mo Temple, looking for street art in SoHo, getting lost near Montane Mansion (I finally found it thankfully), and spending a day on Lantau Island for the Big Buddha, Tai O Fishing Village, and the Wisdom Path.

Who am I kidding? Time was mostly spent indulging at Yum Cha for adorable dim sum critters, milk pudding from Yee Shun Dairy Company, pork buns from Tim Ho Wan, egg waffles from Mammy Pancakes, and Little Bao for traditional Chinese baos. And those pineapple bean buns… come to mama! So yes, I ate a lot. #noshame I’d love to head back there, husband in tow, and take him to all my favorite foodie spots (and find even more…).

Read more about my few days in Hong Kong here (if you’re curious or are planning a trip there – psst you should).

APRIL

As soon as my few days in Hong Kong were up, off to Singapore it was! I honestly wasn’t sure exactly what to expect out of Singapore (I mean, it’s not your typical Asian city), but I enjoyed my few days there. I probably won’t be running back, but I’m glad I added the city to my Spring Break itinerary. In my few days I visited the typical Gardens by the Bay to see the Supertree Grove, Flower Conservatory, and Cloud Forest (which I found the most fascinating) and the rooftop bar at Marina Bay Sands for sunset. A few exhibitions at the ArtScience museum were particularly impressive, and walking over to see the Merlion just had to be done.

I thankfully made it past the super touristy spots, and also checked out Clarke Quay (full of super cute colorful houses), the people’s park complex, ministry of communications and information, Little India, Kampong Glam, Haji Lane, and Bugis Street. I also headed to the Singapore Night Safari, which in all honesty, found especially underwhelming and was a b*tch to get to. The Singapore Botanical Gardens were nice, but the National Orchid Garden really stole the show. I also attempted to head to Sentosa Island, but before I even got there, it was pouring rain. I camped out at a facility meant for hotel staff, and thankfully the nice people at the Sofitel drove me to their (5-star) resort and I took it upon myself to use their facilities before the rain cleared (free fish spa, anyone?)

I think one of the best parts about Singapore was being upgraded (fo’ free) to a sweet capsule hotel (I paid for a typical hostel bed), complete with flat screen tv and private sleeping quarters. Oh, and eating at Din Tai Fung and Ippudo with minimal lines makes the cut as well. Geez, you guys probably think all I like to do is eat #truestory.

Once back in California, I also made it outta bed one morning (yes, toooo early at 4am) to head off to Mt. Tam for a sunrise photo shoot. Finally met a few of my blogging besties, and it was super weird just going about our morning as if we’d known each other IRL (in-real-life if you’re not up to date with the current acronyms, I know I ain’t) for years already. Weirrrdd how the internet (and instagram) can do that.

MAY

Over Memorial Day Weekend, we drove down to Santa Barbara and spent a few days down in sunny Southern California. We even got to meet up with some blogging friends and their cute little pup, Buddy (who Noah is now low-key obsessed with). We found the prettiest views from the Santa Barbara courthouse, loved all the architecture on State St, checked out all the interesting finds in the Funk Zone, admired Stearns Wharf (albeit a tad touristy), picked out our next boat to purchase (ha!), and reveled in those Santa Barbara sunsets. And we couldn’t visit without waiting in line for some McConnells (yes, it’s worth it each and every time).

Oh, and we basically drank frose and sangria slushies all weekend, yup – went back there twice in 3 days! We had visited SB in the past but only for a few hours, so it was nice to actually get to know the area a bit better. I forgot how much I love it down there – all the bright colors, fresh seafood, Spanish colonial architecture, upscale and trendy boutiques, the list goes on…

JUNE

June was all about exploring a few US cities I surprisingly hadn’t made it to yet, and somehow knocked both Portland’s off my list back to back. Here’s how it all went down: I first took my annual trip to New York to see the family, then jetted off to Portland, MAINE with my parents after scoring some sweeeeeet $74 roundtrip flights (on JetBlue I might add, not even one of those crappy low-cost airlines).

We spent our few days stuffing our faces with as much lobster as humanly possible (no joke- we had lobster rolls everyday for lunch), indulged in sea salted duck fat caramel milkshakes (yes, it’s a thing there), admired the views from the Portland Observatory, taste-tested everything blueberry imaginable, took a free brew tour with free beers (yuuup :)), took the most charming day trip to Ogunquit and Kennebunkport, ate a whole lotta whoopie pies, visited the Portland Head Light (I have a thing for lighthouses, okay?), cruised Casco Bay, and even watched a Sea Dogs baseball game!

Okay, so after typing that out, it seems like all we did was eat and drink… Fine by me. :p And besides the fact that a seagull stole an entire lobster roll off our picnic table one day (yup, true story), I’d say it was a wildly successful first trip with just the parents.

A few days after returning home from Portland, MAINE, off to Portland, OREGON it was! Yup, super weird how that happened, amiright? I traded in lobster for some heavenly donuts, so no complaining here! I finally got to meet up with my old co-worker, Cami, who moved to Portland a few years back, after trying to squeeze a visit to the city (and failing) for the past few summers. I cram them up with travel, ok?!

My few days in Portland (Oregon) consisted of lots more eating, (Pok Pok, Salt and Straw, Blue Star, Pine State Biscuits, VooDoo, + way more), tidepooling in Cannon Beach to get outta the nasty heat spell, swooning over the views from Pittock Mansion, literally smelling the roses at the International Rose Test Garden, getting overwhelmed at Powell’s, and walking the Tilikum Crossing.

We also took lots of mini road trips to Multnomah Falls, Rowena Crest, Hood River Lavender Farm, Trillium Lake, Mt. Hood, and Silver Falls State Park – which just blew me amazing with all it’s lush-ness.

I never expected to fall in love with Oregon so fast, so I’ll be back. And plus, I’m stillll craving that mint cold brew (from a converted double decker bus nonetheless!) – totally beat Stumptown in my opinion. I even got to see a few cousins who live over there (yeah, I should really be visiting more often, they’re the definition of awesome and Portland’s pretty chill, so yeah….)

JULY

July continued my 2018 summer of fun (yes, I tend to be away the entire summer due to non-existent work – I’m a speech therapist working in a high school, and school’s closed for the summer, oh well?). And finally our long awaited 3-week couples trip began – we flew to Oslo to start our 10-Day Norway Road Trip, and it was allll kinds of glorious.

We found Norway to be absolutely spectacular – home to stunning turquoise fjords, towering mountains, and $8 hot dogs. Yes, it was pricey, but Norway is one of the most remarkable countries I’ve ever been to, so it was worth it and then some. The trip started out in Stavanger, where we chased trolls, admired all the cute white wooden houses in Gamle Stavanger (seriously, the absolute cutest little area), spent some time on Ovre Holmegate loving the vivid colors and wild street art (I died and went to rainbow heaven), and caught up on sleep (jetlag + midnight sun does not mix well).

From there we hiked to Pulpit Rock, and I must say, that 3.5 hour uphill battle through the fog was worth it the second the mist and cloud cover lifted once we reached the top. And ohhh those views – we got rewarded with a panorama of mountains in the distance with the glistening Lysefjord below.

After that we continued by road tripping up to Bergen, stopping at tons of waterfalls along the way, finding glacier views on the side of the road, and dong a mini hike (with tons of sheep) in Folgefonna National Park. Lots of reindeer hot dogs were consumed (as well as waaaay overpriced mini ice cream cones) and we had a blast on the top of Mt. Floyen admiring the views of Bergen below. Next up was Flam, where we took a cruise down the stunning Naeroyfjord and took a trip on what is said to be the prettiest train ride in the whole world. Not so sure I’d agree exactly (have you been to Switzerland?), but it was still pretty epic to say the least.

The National Tourist Routes took up another full day, with even more sheep and Stave Churches being definite highlights. Oh, and Gamle Strynefjellsvegen totally won over my heart (it’s an absolute stunner). The next few days were spent at lookout points (Dalsnibba and Ørnesvingen, I’m looking at you), taking yet another stunning fjord cruise, driving on Trollstigen (a super curvy road), trying and loving fish and chips (yes, for the first time ever), and huffing and puffing up 418 steps to see the lookout spot in Alesund. If you want to read more about our Norway road trip, check this out.

We got extreeeemly lucky with the weather, as Norway is usually pretty finicky, and had minimal days of rain and only one moderately cloudy and windy day, which ended up clearing up anyways. And besides the fact that I still cannot pronounce all the places we went (Norwegian is hard, ok?!), the trip was a huge success and I can’t wait to get myself back there sometime.

As soon as our road trip ended, we were off to Copenhagen, Denmark to take a Scandinavian and Russian Cruise! We love cruising because it not only forces us to unpack once (therefore not living out a suitcase at all), but the fact that we get to see so many different destinations so super easily! This was the perfect introduction to Scandinavia and the perfect addition to our Norway road trip. And plus, this one let us visit St. Petersburg, Russia without having to fight for a visa, so that’s primarily the reason we picked it. Before leaving, we spent a few days in Copenhagen, meeting up with a friend (hey, Bella!) in Tivoli Gardens (where I was gifted an unlimited ride bracelet – thanks stranger), strolling around Nyhaven, and walking around Freetown Christiania.

First up on the cruise was Warnemunde, Germany, where we rented a car and drove to Schwerin Castle and Rostock for some must-needed schnitzel. Tallinn, Estonia was way over-crowded and wayyy too hot, but I adored the charming Old Town, and I could see myself going back in the off-season. St. Petersburg was everything and then some – we visited all the touristy must-do’s (Church of Spilled Blood, Hermitage, Mariinsky Theatre, Palace Square, Saint Isaac’s Cathedral, Catherine Palace, and more), and I’ll never forget those dramatic architectural beasts and that surprisingly delicious beet soup!

We found Helsinki, Finland to be a little meh, visiting some cute cafes, the cathedral and a rock church (ok, that was pretty cool), and yes, we waited on line for DIY magnum ice creams (probably the main highlight for me in all of Helsinki). Stockholm, Sweden was more our jam, and we spent our time stuffing our faces with Swedish meatballs, checking out the chic-est Scandi shops (I wanted to buy everythingggg), running around the art-filled subway stops, and checking out the photo museum.

After our exploration of the Scandi cities, Noah headed home and I was off to discover yet another part of Europe I’ve been longing to get to: Croatia!

First up was Split, where I wandered around Diocletian’s Palace, finallly caved and bought a summer hat (the Croatian heat is like no else I tell ya), made the journey to Krka National Park (which was all kinds of fun), ate a lot of cheap pizza and sat by the Riva people-watching. I also took a tour to the blue cave in the tiniest boat ever (the entrance to the cave is super small, you need to duck your head to get in!), which was all kinds of magical (the entire thing and all the water is a million shades of blue, you gotta see it to believe it). I climbed up the Hvar Fortress, got zipped around in a little orange dingy that finalllly picked us up, and finally made it to Plitvice National Park. I’ll never forget all those blues and turquoises amongst the lush green scenery (as well as the hordes of tourists blocking the view, every time!). Note to self – visit again in the spring or fall.

Before heading to my next destination, I stopped in Omis to go ziplining above the Cetina River. I’ve been ziplining before (in both Whistler and Belize), but zipping over the river through the canyons was a whole different experience in and of itself. Add that one to your bucket list, like now!

After what felt like a 27 hour bus ride (those border crossings were no joke), I finally made it to Bosnia and Herzegovina – Mostar to be exact! I fell hard for this little Bosnian city, and loved learning all about the war and the cities horrifically tragic past (which wasn’t too long ago actually, in the early-mid 1990’s.) Day tripping to Blagaj, Kravice Waterfalls, Politelj, and drinking that fine, fine Bosnian coffee will be something I never forget.

And Mostar – you and your sunsets were absolutely lovely, along with watching the bridge jumpers in the 452nd competition (which I just so happened to be in town for), climbing up the minaret for the most fabulous views, sliding and slipping on the famous Stari Most, trying cevapcici and turkish delight (soooo good), and just loving life here (as well as starting a mini dance party in the river), despite being reminded of the war by the many bullet holes still present all over the city.

AUGUST

After a few days in one of my newly discovered favorite places in the world (Mostar), off to Dubrovnik I went to soak up more of that wondrous Croatian sun. I walked the city walls despite the intense heat (I was dripping by the time I finished), adjusted to those rocky Croatian beaches, wandered around the Old Town come night (once the city cooled off a bit and all those cruise-shippers went home), spent time on Lokrum Island, and jumped in the Adriatic with my clothes on (I couldn’t resist).

I also took the cable car up to Mt. Srd for the most dramatic sunset views over the entire city, took a day trip to the oh so stunning Elaphite Islands, and made some Italian friends in Babin Kuk at the beach clubs over there. Croatia taught me to slow down, at least for a little bit, and I’d gladly go back and spend another summer there. If you wanna copy my exact 2-week Croatia itinerary, find that over here.

Finally it was back to Oslo to catch my flight home, but of course I spent a few days exploring the chic Norwegian capital before jetting off. I checked out a bunch of interesting museums (the Fram Museum, Kon-Tiki Museum, Astrup Fearnley Museum, and the Munch Museum), checked out the bumpin’ Karl Johans Gate street, stared at the odd sculptures at Fragner Park, and loveddd my tour of Oslo Radhus, Oslo’s city counsel building adorned with the most impressive murals I’ve seen to date.

The Opera House was like no other, and was by far the most impressive building in Oslo, modeled after flat icebergs. I spent the bulk of my nights hanging around here, watching the sun go down and people watching.

And just like that, after my sweet, sweet summer in Europe (I can’t seem to get away from the place), the school year started up again and off to work I was!

SEPTEMBER

Thankfully a long weekend wasn’t too far away, and my cute friend Sini and I jumped in the car for 10 hours (yes, TEN hours) to drive up to Crater Lake, in southern Oregon. The lake has been on my USA bucket list for years, so when we ultimately decided to spend Labor Day Weekend over there, I was more than thrilled. Unfortunately this was right around the time of the massive fires in Northern California, so we checked on the air quality errday and decided at the last possible minute to continue on with our trip.

And boy am I glad we did – that lake is bluer than blue! We did a bunch of short day hikes, an absolutely stunning sunset hike (although it was waaaay chillier than I had thought), climbed up the highest mountain in the park, checked out the pinnacles, and just stared at that lake and all its shades of blue all day.

In a few weeks, back down south it was to spend a weekend in Malibu and Santa Monica with our new frands Lena and Bassam. They made sure to feed us donuts from Sidecar and paletas from Boca de Agua, took us around Abbott Kiney (which I LOVED on my last trip to Santa Monica a few years ago), twinned with Caroline, and brunched at the Butcher’s Daughter. We had a perfect night by the beach gawking at the sunset and stuffing our faces with fries (which were, in fact, life changing, as Lena promised).

Somehow Lena and I found ourselves hiking a few miles too many on the beach/in water (and scrambling over rocks) which was all in good fun until we almost couldn’t figure out how to get back to the guys… but we made it! It’s always an adventure with that gal! <3

OCTOBER

Off on our annual trip to Hawaii it was in October – and this time to Maui for Noah to run the Maui Marathon (yes, he’s a beast and absolutely crazy). He has a goal of running a full marathon on each Hawaiian island, and has completed both Honolulu (on Oahu) and now Maui! I ran the Maui Tacos 5k, and while I didn’t run the entireeee time, it was great to get moving and finally see what all the fuss that is “professional running?” is about.

Besides running, we checked out some farmers markets with allll the tropical fruit you can imagine, of course indulged in shave ice at Ululani’s, got the bestttt views on an epic helicopter tour, explored the funky surf town of Paia, relaxed by the pool, ate a shit load of acai smoothie bowls, and ate at our favorite fish house, Mama’s. Hula pie was also consumed, as were poolside white chocolate macadamia nut pancakes. Since we had driven the Road to Hana on a previous trip, we reveled in our downtime and just enjoyed each other.

After visiting a few times, I’ve created the ultimate 5-day Maui itinerary for anyone heading there in the near future!

We also finallllllyyyy saw the San Francisco Air Show, which I’ve been trying to get to since we moved to the Bay Area over 4 years ago. Check out my full San Francisco Bucket list if you’d like some ideas to add to your own!

NOVEMBER

Mid-November was sorta crazy, as we flew across the country a few times back to back.

But first, a much needed day trip to Big Sur and Carmel to meet up with some friends. Everytime we venture down the coast I can’t help but remember how much I absolutely love it down there. We spent some time on the beach in the soft, soft, white sand that is Carmel Beach, photographed an unrealistic sunset (just look at those colors!), and took in the views from the obvious Bixby Creek Bridge and Julia Pfeiffer Falls.

Next up we flew to New York for a hot second for a wedding of two dear friends of ours. It was such a quick weekend and it flew by super fast, but we wouldn’t have missed this wedding for the world. And plus, we could never say no to pizza and bagels.

Lastly, only 4 days after returning to SFO from JFK, we were off to the east coast again, but this time headed way down south to Florida to visit Noah’s parents for Thanksgiving. They moved to Boynton Beach in March, so figured it’d be extra special to spend their first Turkey Day down there together. It was fantastic getting out of the SF Bay’s chilly-ish weather and into the heat, although the Florida humidity nearly killed us!

We ventured down into South Beach (where I loveddd the trendy Lincoln Road Mall), ate at the infamous Joe’s Stone Crabs for you guessed, stone crabs and Key Lime Pie, and played in the pool with our cute niece and nephew a whole bunch. We also got to see a few (awesomely awesome) cousins and a few friends we had met in Israel sooo many years ago in Ft. Lauderdale. Unfortunately the visit wasn’t only a happy one, as we had to put down Teddy, the family dog, but I’m extra thankful we were down there to help ease the pain just a tiny bit.

DECEMBER

After eating waaaay too many sugar cookies at waaay too many Christmas parties, I was off to Mexico to gorge myself with even more treats – in the form of tacos, mole, tequila, and market-finds! I had only been to the more touristy coastlines of Mexico before – Cabo, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, and Riviera Maya – and once I realized flights to Mexico City were oh so much closer and cheaper than heading off to Asia like I had originally planned, those plane tickets were bought right away!

I took a bus straight away from CDMX airport to San Miguel de Allende, which was oozing with color and charm and this stunning Spanish colonial gem was straight outta a Mexican fairytale. My tacos and tequila food tour was a highlight of my few days there, as were the cobblestoned streets, tons of culture, and that oh so stunning pastel-colored cathedral. Oh, and if you’re in the area, definitely take a day trip to Guanajuato! Those views from the Pipila Monument were something else (and that avocado ice cream was to die for).

Noah met me down in Mexico City to spend the New Years weekend together, and we checked out Chapultepec Castle, indulged in a 6-course tasting menu at Pujol (OMG that mole was life changing), ate at El Moro for churros and mini ice cream sandwiches a few too many times, learned all about Frida in her azul-colored museum and house, and took a fascinating canal ride in Xochimilco.

We couldn’t miss watching a Luche Libre match with all their wild and crazy costumes – that night was filled with straight up Mexican culture. Our New Year’s Eve day trip to see the pyramids of Teoticathan and eat at the La Gruta cave restaurant was the perfect way to end the new year (exercise and food, duh), and we loved wandering around the trendy neighborhoods of Condesa and Roma Norte. And OMG the tacos. I die and go to heaven just thinking about those.

I also took a short flight to Oaxaca and spent about a week there, but I’ll have to explain that in more detail next year as this trip crept into 2019!

What’s in store for 2019 so far? A few long weekend trips (we’ve got Bend, Vegas, Denver, and San Luis Obispo almost 100% definite), and we’re headed to Panama in March! We’re also headed to Kauai in the fall, and are currently thinking about our summer and winter plans (Asia and Africa, we’re looking at you!).

→ A few exciting business-related things that happened in 2018:

A Passion and A Passport became officially official! As in I’m now an established LLC registered in California!!! You betcha I can’t wait to pay those taxes (noooot). As I’m growing and growing each year, I decided it finally needed to be done. If anyone has any questions about becoming an LLC, feel free to ask!

My income more than doubled in 2018 as compared to 2017. And that’s a big thanks to my beloved ad network, Mediavine. Read more about why I decided to plaster my site with ads here.

My page views are continuing to grow, and I’m expecting to hit 200k page views per month in the beginning of 2019. Yup, this little baby of mine is growing and I can’t keep up. With that being said, if you’d like to write a guest post for A Passion and A Passport, check this out.

Thanks for all your lovely reader messages this past year. I read every single blog comment, direct IG message, facebook message, and email I receive. You guys really are awesome – here’s to an even better (and productive) 2019! Happy travels! 🙂

Hey Jessica! We’re so glad that Mediavine was part of your amazing year! Thanks for being a part of ours. We’re looking forward to an even more awesome 2019 — cheers!
Thanks for the shoutout!
— Susannah at Mediavine